Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Does the same rule apply to butterworms as to silkies concerning the size of the prey? And what do the butterworms need to eat? There was no info included...Also, (and this may sound really stupid) but is there any risk from a calcium overdose if my bearded dragon eats too many? If not, why are butterworms not good as a staple? And final question for butterworms, I saw a website that said to keep the lid off of the worm container while they are in the fridge??
Does anyone breed silkworms?
Thanks so much,
Vanessa

To my knowledge, butterworms are a great stable. As for causing an over dose of calcium, I don't think that will happen providing you are giving a balanced diet, feeding butterworms as part of their normal food. If the creature you are feeding eats only insects, I would alternate butters with other insects to ensure they are getting all the nutrients they need.

Too much calcium can cause problems in a creature as can too little. Exactly how much is too much, will depend on the animal. If it also requires D3 to process that calcium, too much of that may cause too much calcium being absorbec but I don't really remember the scientific aspects of how t his is done. I do beleive there is a good article about this on Kaplane's site, which I have included below.

Butterworms are not bred in North America to my knowledge, only imported from Chile. They eat a specific type of plant found out there, but the name eludes me at this moment. They go into hybernation when chilled hence why they last much longer when stored in the fridge. I don't see where leaving the worms exposed to open fridge air keeps them from drying out. Everything else I have encountered dries out faster if uncovered in the fridge so I am inclined to say that is false. Unless, too much moisture causes the worms to rot in the fridge. I would ask suppliers of butterworms if they uncover the worms when refridgerated or keep them covered. Most will be willing to tell you what they do, especially if they want you to be a happy customer. IF they say one thing and your entire purchase withers away, they know you would be less likely to order more from them.

I have bred silkworms for a short time, mostly because I ordered 200 of them and a week later my bearded dragon decided she wanted to brumate...so I had 200 silkworms that I just didn't want to throw away. So I kept them full of silkworm chow and clean till they all coccooned then put the coccons into another container till the moths came out. I then took the moths out, paired them up (if they haven't already done so) let them do their thing and once the males died off, I tossesd out the bodies. I lined the cage with the females with wax paper for her to lay the eggs on.

After a few days after laying the eggs change colour, (can't recall the various stages they go through off hand..but if they go white, i beleive that means they are infertile). After about 5 days or so, the eggs go purple and can be refrigerated. You have to refrigerate them for several months before hatching..leaving them out doesn't work, at least not for me LOL. Once refrigerated for a couple months, take out what you need, put in a pie plate or other shadow dish and wait about 8-12 days. By then you should see little black worms coming out of the eggs. Once most are hatched, grate a small amount of silkworm chow onto the plate..you don't need much, a single grated strand is more than enough to feed a 100 little silkworms each day. Pick out dry food when you can, checking too make sure there are no worms on it. Most times the only way to get the dry food out is to put a fresh piece of food near it and wait for the worms to move to the fresh piece. You certainly can't pick them off for the first week or two.

The important thing is to make sure you keep them clean. Hard to do with such small worms but once they are old enough to move, move them onto something that is easy to clean, like egg carton (you can dump the food off, and poo by turnign the egg carton over, then pick up any worms that fell off).

From this stage its just a matter of feeding every day till the worms get to the size you need for feeding. Remember to keep enough to grow into adulthood so you will have more eggs ready after your current batch all hatch.

Hi Vanessa, if memory serves you purchased those butters from me. I also have never heard anything about leaving them open in the refrigerator. They live on the Tebo plant in Chile and are a wood boring species, it can be a really bad idea to leave them in your reptiles cage as "leftovers" as usually theyll just burrow into the nearest avilable piece of wood. Unfortunately they are imported from Chile and treated with radiation to prevent them from becoming a pest species here, but if you were interested/curious they turn into a small, dark colored moth. They can be stored in the fridge for 6 months as long as the temperatures dont go above 50 degrees for long periods.

As far as your calcium overdose concerns, you should have nothing to worry about, however if you need the peace of mind,I would suggest switching to a calcium supplement that doesnt contain d3 (only if you are using high UV output lights for d3 production however), if you arent using high UV output lights I personally, wouldnt worry about it!